January
17 - 23 |
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- Jan. 14 - Feb. 5: Sailing Adventure Series (slide and
film presentations). This wonderful idea comes from Orange Coast College, and the series
are presented in the Orange Coast College on Thursdays, and Ventura College on Fridays, in
Costa Mesa and Newport Harbor, California, USA. For more extensive
information call 714-432-5880.
- Jan. 17 - 22: GMC Yukon/Yachting Key West Race Week (IMS,
One-design, PHRF) will take place in Key West, Florida, USA.
Funded by Premiere Racing, you can call them at 781-639-9545. If you want
immediate gratification, here is a site with all recent race results from this race week: http://www.yachtingnet.com/calendar/raceweek
- Jan. 16 - 24: Toronto International Boat Show is going
to take place in the National Trade Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
It's one of the biggest indoor boat shows, and this one promises to be even greater
than previous ones. For information call 416-591-6772.
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- As the leg two of Around Alone race is nearing the finish, some very interesting stories
can be told. Among them are humangous troubles that the sailors have gone through
(and some still are). All of the top competitors have had bad experiences with the
ocean, the equipment, or both. Mike Golding has had to withdraw from the race after
damaging his keel badly, and he was almost in Aukland by then! Isabelle Autissier
and Mark Thiercelin have had tremendous troubles with their boats (mostly because of very
rough seas), but they made it. J.P. Mouligne has finished on fourth place - still
among the first class boats, and his is from class two - which puts him in the first place
overall: for now. And now Konioukhov faces disqualification, because he missed a
waypoint, and has too little power (his engine was knocked down) for communication.
He has now very small chances of staying in the race. To read more about the race
and all the challenges coming with it visit www.aroundalone.com.
- Single-handed races might soon become a thing of the past. Or so it seems when you
consider that they are not sanctioned by the ISAF (International Sailing Federation).
One of the greatest problems with those kinds of races is that they are not with
accordance with international maritime regulations requiring that watch be kept at all
times. You obviously cannot do this while you're alone on the ocean, and it poses
some dangers. Another problem is the self-steering system, which according to ISAF
is dangerous, because you cannot react quickly when needed (for example, when coming down
a huge wave). This puts a considerable strain on the rudders. While they don't
want to get rid of these races, soon they will be able to influence them more because they
became affiliates with IMO (International Maritime Organization), and both may become more
involved in single-handed racing.
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